


Master of the Game

by DesertVixen



Category: Westing Game - Ellen Raskin
Genre: Gen, How the game is played, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 14:35:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11922960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/pseuds/DesertVixen
Summary: Sam Westing ponders his game





	Master of the Game

**Author's Note:**

  * For [seekingferret](https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekingferret/gifts).



Sam Westing – better known to the tenants of Sunset Towers as Barney Northrup and Sandy McSouthers – watched his heirs as they went about their business, trying to win his game, little dreaming that he was watching them all the time. It gave him a little thrill that none of them had seen through his disguise, that none of them saw more than what he intended them to see.  


It had taken him some time – longer than he had expected – to set up his board. Westing Paper Products had only grown more profitable after his disappearance, so he had plenty of resources to work with. It had to be perfect, and perfection couldn’t be rushed. 

Berthe Erica Crow had to be included, of course. He could not forget how the girl he had loved and married had turned into a cold social-climber who couldn’t see how unhappy their girl was – so unhappy, so trapped that she had chosen to drown herself in the Westings’ swimming pool. He had found her, could still see her with her blonde hair floating in a halo around her. It was true that he hadn’t paid her much attention once he realized that she had not inherited any of his business sense, but he had loved his little girl.

Berthe had crawled into a bottle afterwards, but nothing could bring their shy little Violet back – Violet who had known that politician was no good, Violet who had wanted to marry the handsome young man who worked in his factory, Violet who couldn’t say no to her mother. She was gone forever, sleeping forever beneath a marble stone.

Yes, Berthe Erica Crow had to be included. Otis Amber would be included as well, to ensure she took part. That, and there were other ways Otis Amber could be useful to the game.

He had intended to include George Theodorakis, the young man who had loved his Violet. He had been poor, but Sam Westing would not have held that against him. He knew what it was like to be poor, to come from nothing. The man who had been Windy Windkloppel, who had worked his way up from nothing, would have been happy to give him the means to make a start if he could make his daughter happy. 

When Berthe had informed him that his relationship with Violet was over, had even offered him money to go away quietly, George Theodorakis had thrown it back in her face, and retreated to lick his wounds – not that he could have gotten near Violet anyway. 

At the end, Sam Westing had decided that George Theodorakis and his wife didn’t deserve to be made pawns, but he still wanted to include them, to give them a chance. So he had selected their sons – Theo, the very image of his father as a young man, and Chris. The younger brother’s condition couldn’t be fixed by money, but Sam Westing was willing to bet it could alleviate some of the associated problems.

Once he had decided to include the Theodorakis boys, the idea of including a younger generation made sense. James Shin Hoo, the inventor who had sued him, had a son the same age as Theo, and the father’s obvious Westing connection would help muddy the waters in the game. He had not realized how much entertainment James Shin Hoo would provide – and the man made some incredible spareribs. 

Sam Westing had decided to include one of his Windkloppel relations, and had spent considerable time on that task. Finally, he decided on Grace Windsor Wexler, because he remembered the little girl who had always wanted to be better than she was, than their whole family was. He admired her bold decision to change her name- after all, hadn’t he done the same? One of his reasons for picking her were the fact that her social climbing tendencies reminded him of Berthe, and he wanted to throw the two of them together, so that Berthe could see what her behavior had looked like from the outside. The other reason was the Wexler daughters. Angela looked so much like Violet that it was uncanny, even despite the fact that they were distant cousins. And Turtle – Tabitha-Ruth, of all the silly names – reminded him a little of himself. He thought it a shame there hadn’t been another young girl to include in the game. Sam Westing liked things to be neat and symmetrical. 

Sun Lin Hoo and Jake Wexler were included because it would be strange if they were not included when their spouses were. Flora Baumbach had been a somewhat random choice. Sam Westing had wanted someone associated with Violet’s wedding, and she had been the easiest to find. She had been one of his better selections, since she had quickly noticed the resemblance between Angela and Violet. 

Sydelle Pulaski had been a mistake, but Sam Westing hadn’t discovered his mistake until the game was underway. It was his own fault for not checking a little more carefully, but he had to admit that Sydelle Pulaski made a pretty good wild card, to mix his game metaphors. He couldn’t help applauding her ploy with the crutches. He had paired her with Angela, thinking that surely Berthe’s best friend would notice Angela’s resemblance to Violet, would point out her old friend Berthe Erica Crow to the group. The problem was that he had wanted Sybil Pulaski, and he had gotten Sydelle Pulaski, who had never met his wife.

And Josie-Jo Ford. He had to include her – perhaps if she had left the area, Sam Westing could have excluded her. Since she had not done so, it was vital to pull her in. As her partner, he could know what she had figured out, and he had faith that her experience in playing games with him would be helpful. So far, it was working out nicely. It rankled him a little that she had discovered his mistake – Sydelle, not Sybil. 

Josie-Jo thought she understood what the game was really about, but she couldn’t see that she was falling for the queen’s sacrifice gambit. He was fairly certain that she had not realized just who she was paired with, as she seemed to be focused on Otis Amber. 

He hoped Josie-Jo had taken his comment to heart – Sam Westing had paid for her education because she was smart, because those smarts wouldn’t do her any good without a boost. He wondered if she would figure out who he really was before everything played out tonight. 

Denton Deere had been included to round out the group, his name chosen by throwing a dart at a list of names loosely connected to the heirs he had already selected. It had been a good choice, Sam Westing had realized later, for several reasons.

The game had not gone according to his exact plan. He had not foreseen Angela expressing her frustration with fireworks, but it made him glad. Grace Windsor Wexler might try to push her beautiful daughter down the path she had selected, but at least Angela had some spark inside her. He couldn’t see Angela choosing to end everything – but he wouldn’t have been surprised to see her run away at the altar. The damage from Angela’s bombs hadn’t been too costly – nothing that Westing money couldn’t fix. On the whole, he could not complain.

It had also been fun watching the pairs to see what sort of strategy they came up with. Although it wasn’t the strategy he had envisioned, he found Turtle’s approach one he could admire - that girl would be one to keep his eye on, even when the game was finished. He hoped she was the winner. 

He was fairly certain that none of the teams had actually figured it out. It was a little disappointing, really. He refused to cheat at his own game, and giving teams any more nudges than he already had would definitely be cheating.

Tonight, all his planning and work would come to a head. Tonight was what he had waited for. 

Sam Westing was ready to make the last move.

**Author's Note:**

> So I hope you like it! I loved that you wanted something about the end, and from your prompt, I thought you would enjoy a little something about the choices Sam Westing made (even the mistake) and why.
> 
> It was fun exploring what might have gone on inside his head.


End file.
